The present invention relates generally to the confectionery processing, and more particularly, to the use of ultrasonically energized apparatus for slitting extended, continuous lengths of confectionery stock.
In one of its more preferred forms, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for longitudinally slitting a continuously moving slab of a composite confectionery product such as, for example, a composite slab having layers of nougat and caramel superimposed to form a wide slab. According to the process, the slab is formed by successively depositing a mass of a first confectionery product component, such as nougat, from a chill roll onto a conveyor, advancing the first confectionery product component formation thus created toward a station adjacent a second chill roll, at which a top layer of a second confectionery product component, such as caramel, is added to form the composite slab. The conveyor continues to advance the slab toward a cutting station at which a properly arranged, suitably adjusted array of ultrasonically energized slitters continuously slit the slab to provide a continuously moving array of spaced apart strips of confectionery product. These strips are subsequently formed into individual confectionery product segments by transverse cutting (ultrasonic or otherwise) and/or molding (ultrasonic or otherwise).
Depending on the intentions of the producer and the intended destination of the product, the cut individual shapes can be enrobed with a coating of chocolate. Thereafter, the individual finished products may be wrapped and boxed for sale and shipment.
An important aspect of the present invention is the design, construction and arrangement of a slitting tool of a desired configuration. Another aspect of the process relates to the manner of positioning the cutting edges of the slitting tool in arrays and the method of advancing the slabs so as to continuously slit the slab into a plurality of product strips.
Recently, it has been discovered that ultrasonically energized forming tools may be utilized to cut individual pieces of confectionery stock by transverse motion, wherein the stock is compressed between a support surface and a descending knife. In addition, ultrasonically energized product forming tools having a cavity shaped in accordance with the configuration of the product to be formed therewith have been found to be effective in simultaneously cutting and shaping an individual piece of confectionery stock from a leading edge of a strip of stock. This again involves compression and reforming of a piece of stock which is substantially captured or surrounded by the active surfaces of the tool.
The concept of slitting a continuous slab into plural strips, however, has presented problems and difficulties which, heretofore, have not been overcome by prior art slitters which commonly are in the form of rotary blades. For example, use of these rotary blade slitters have resulted in the build-up of product (particularly with soft and tacky confectionery products such as nougat and caramel layered slabs) which has necessitated frequent shutdown and washing, resulting in costly downtime. Efforts to solve this product build-up have involved the use of scrapers which require otherwise unnecessary personnel to monitor and remove the scraped product. Other efforts to solve this product build-up have involved the application of lubricants to the rotary blades which impart an undesirable slickness to the product that interferes which further processing such as chocolate enrobing and can produce a product of relatively short shelf life. Also, the performance of rotary blade slitters is particularly sensitive to product formulations and conditions, variations therein from narrow parameters can cause product jams. Additionally, rotary blade slitters can cause crunching of inclusions such as nuts and the like, leaving voids in the slab which, among other things, also interferes with chocolate enrobing. Accordingly, these prior art rotary blade slitter systems used in the production of confectionery products have created excessive scrap, produced reduced product yields and also suffered from related cleanliness or sanitation problems.
The present invention succeeds in overcoming these shortcomings by providing a high quality, effective cutting action having a number of significant advantages and beneficial characteristics, including reliability, low cost operation and high production speeds.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus and process for slitting extended, continuous lengths of confectionery stock.
Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus and process which utilizes an ultrasonically energized slitting tool for forming strips from a slab of confectionery material.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and process for rapidly slitting a continuous slab of confectionery material into a plurality of adjacent strips of a desired width utilizing an ultrasonically energized slitting knives which do not suffer from excessive product build-up characteristic of prior art rotary blade slitters.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method which utilize an ultrasonically energized slitting tool for forming a plurality of strips from a slab of confectionery stock which method and apparatus minimize the crunching and fragmentation of inclusions such as nuts and the like and produce product strips which are essentially free of voids.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method of slitting a slab of confectionery stock which accommodate a wide variation in product formulations, enabling such slitting to be efficiently accomplished with highly viscous and/or tacky ingredients such as are associated with lower calorie confectionery products.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for continuously slitting a slab of confectionery material into a plurality of strips which apparatus and method are more robust in that they provide greater flexibility in processing parameters and product formulations and conditions than are available with conventional rotary blade slitters.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages are achieved by providing an ultrasonically energized slitting tool which contacts a slab of confectionery material wherein slitting tool incorporates a plurality of slitting knives spaced apart in accordance with the desired width of the product strips which strips are further processed by transverse cutting and/or molding and other processing steps such as chocolate enrobing to provide improved confectionery products.
The manner in which the foregoing and other objects and advantages are achieved in practice will become more apparent when reference is made to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention set forth by way of example and shown in the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout.